FAN Languedoc (BC-1928 (1938-mod))

Back to French Navy page

Part of the reparations package France received from the Allied War Reparations commission was two uncompleted battlecruisers of the Mackensen class. One of these was completed as the aircraft carrier Guynemer the other was rechristened Languedoc and completed as a battlecruiser. The armament of the Languedoc had to be changed from the original 13.8" as the ship was received without any armaments. The French did have 5 twin turrets originally ordered for the Bretagne class battleship being built for Greece and cancelled in 1916 incomplete. Four of these turrets and the guns for them could be mounted on the ex-German ship to provide the main armament for the new battlecruiser. Unfortunately when the measurements of the Languedoc's barbettes were taken it was found there was no way that the twin 13.4" French turrets would fit. The quadruple turrets that had been built for the Normandie class were too big. The Goldilocks turret would be a triple 13.4" turret. The guns were available, only the turrets would need to be built. Which is why it took six years for the Languedoc to be completed.

Below is what the Germanic States Mackensen class would have looked like on completion. The French received this ship with no armament or superstructure. The machinery was there but had never been run.

The superstructure followed the Normandie class battleships as bits and pieces of these ships had been manufactured and lay unused at the Brest Naval dockyard. The secondary armament had to be the 5.5" casemate guns that had also been built for the Normandie class. The ship started being worked on in 1922 and was slowly completed through to 1928. The ship had been completed as cheaply as possible. The only thing that had needed to be built for it was the triple turrets for the main armament.

13.8" v 13.4".
The 13.4" from the Bretagne, which was the original twins to be fitted, fired a 1200lb shell 20,000 yards. The new triple turret fired the same 1200lb shell 29,000 yards. Elevation difference 18 degrees, Bretagne, 25 degrees triples. Both fired at 2 rpm.
The German 13.8" was a great weapon. It fired a 1400lb shell, 31,000 yards at 2.5 rpm.

The French rearming the Languedoc with 12x13.4" gave them a ship that actually was better than the original. Using up the 13.4" from the Normandie class (1912M) gave the ship better guns than those on the Bretagne which was the original thought.



After 10 years service the ship was taken in hand for major modification. New superstructure and central citadel was built into the ship to mount new secondary dual purpose armament, aircraft handling facilities and new propulsion systems. It was the command and control functions of the Languedoc that needed upgrading. There was little redundancy for the fire control systems and that needed to be upgraded as well. The space between 'B' and 'X' turret was very similar to that of the Lyonnais and it was felt the two ex Germanic States ships could look the same and be an advantage for ship recognition. Turns out the Languedoc is shorter. More fun and games.



I like that. The ships lines flow very nicely. The new bow also helps to get rid of the 'squared' off look. The seperation between turrets is a bit tight but is within reason compared to some.

November 1939 as Flagship of raider hunting group M, the Languedoc with the cruisers Algerie and Suffren, were searching the Central Atlantic for the Germanic States raider Admiral Scheer. When possible the cruisers would launch reconnaissance aircraft to aid the search process. It was one of these that spotted an unidentified warship heading north-east. All eyes turned to the loudspeaker waiting for more information. It was not long in coming. Warship is definitely German, possibly the Admiral Scheer. The next few seconds became tense as the pilots words came through. "what is that? another aircraft? its attacking!". That was the last communication. It was thought a German floatplane, probably one of the new Arado's, had shot it down. The order went out, heading north-east, flank speed. With only two hours of daylight left the French force did not expect to run down the German ship, but hoped they would be closer to it at daylight. Half an hour before daylight the two cruisers both launch an aircraft with orders to search for the German ship. Only ten minutes went past when one of the search aircraft returned a positive sighting. The German ship was only 25 miles to the north and still heading north-east. Force M had cut the distance by ten miles, even though the two capital ships were rated at the same speed. Did the German ship have a problem? Not able to make full speed. The spotter aircraft reported the German ship launching a floatplane, the order was given to withdraw, it was not worth wasting an aircraft that would not survive against an Arado.

Extrapolating the German ships course showed that it was heading for the passes out of the North Atlantic and probably heading for home. At the present rates of advance, the French force would catch up to the German ship in about eight hours time. Stopping to launch and retrieve aircraft would not speed up the advance either. But the German ship would have to be doing the same as well, as shown by the Arado spotting the French group and leisurely flying circuits around the ships outside AA fire range. What vexed the Commodore on board the Languedoc was that the French were unable to launch any aircraft of their own as the Arado would just shoot them down. This gave the advantage to the German ship who now knew exactly what was chasing him, what its heading was, and how fast it was going. The German commander could take any evasive action he liked as it could not be spotted by the French. The Commodore could see his promotion to Admiral disappearing along with the German ship. The only thing the French commander could do was to spread out his ships to cover the widest point of advance as possible. All watched by the Arado. The Arado turns away and heads for home. The French commander has been waiting for this and orders the launch of an aircraft to follow the direction of the German aircraft. Five minutes later the report comes in "German ship, heading North, approximately 25 knots, about 15 miles away. If the weather had been slightly better the two forces could have seen each other.

The Flagship hoists 'Chase' to the masthead and the chase is really on. Twenty minutes later the Suffren to the west reports "Ship in sight" 24,000 yards. The horizon blinks red as the Scheer opens fire. The French Commander orders the Suffren out of the way. It s not armoured to take hits from a 12" battlecruiser. The Languedoc puts its bow to the enemy and opens every tap in the engine room to make speed and close the enemy. At 21,000 yards range the French commander orders open fire on the Scheer with the two forward turrets. The Germans are firing at the Languedoc with its two aft turrets. The Languedoc receives a hit. No damage to anything vital. The Languedoc hits the Scheer twice, one shell appears to do nothing the other hits the stern. Suddenly the Scheer veers to starboard, and opens fire with all six guns. One turret is gone. The Languedoc parallels the course and opens fire at a range of 17,000 yards with twelve guns. The Scheer is now taking continual hits at three to five a broadside. While only scoring a hit every second or third salvo. All of a sudden it is over. The Scheer has ceased firing as all of its main turrets have been knocked out, the ship is stopped in the water. The flag is still flying and shots from a pair of 5" still in action is all that is remaining. The French commander orders the Suffren to fire torpedoes into the hulk to sink it. The Suffren goes from behind the ship on an opening course at full speed, fires a bank of three torpedoes and turns away. Just as well the Suffren had turned away as some ardent German had fired the Scheer's bank of torpedoes at the Suffren. The three torpedoes from the Suffren hit. The Scheer's torpedoes missed. Scratch one Germanic States battlecruiser.

The Languedoc had been hit five times by the Scheer. None had done any great damage. The Languedoc was recalled to Brest for repair and the adulation of the crowds that gathered to cheer the ships into port. Medals all round. The Languedoc had proved that the French Navy had indeed improved what was already a first class battlecruiser. The twelve gun armament had overwhelmed the Admiral Scheer, which just could not handle the pace.

 

I think the new look is better.

Back to French Navy page